Disclaimer: This is a work of Fiction, and as such, should be regarded as such. I obviously do not own rights to World of WarCraft or most characters therein. However, the original characters (if you wonder if it is original Thottbot it, if it returns an NPC, it is not original.) I do own, and such, would like to be asked before they are used.
A Note on Dates: The official in-universe date for the start of the Third War (WarCraft III) is 617 King's Calendar, and the start of World of WarCraft is 622 King's Calendar. Often these dates are reported as 25 and 30 respectively, meaning 25 or 30 years after the start of the First War (WarCraft I). However, as this story is written from an in universe perspective, most will either use the King's Calendar or count from the end of the Third War, which is either reported as 617 or 618 King's Calendar. The two dates spring from the fact that the majority of the world was involved only in the events of WarCraft III: Reign of Chaos, which ended 617. The majority of the remaining forces were not used in the Frozen Throne expansion, which ended 618. This means that while the Frozen Throne set the stage for the current world, most people consider the Third War to have ended 617.
That being said, it should be fairly obvious what year it is and what each character means if they give a date, it will either be triple digits, and so it should be assumed that it is in King's Calendar, or if they say it has been six years since the end of the War, it should be assumed to be 623 King's Calendar.
Finally, thank you for reading through this long explanation, and I have little more to say. I can find no record of a calendar in universe, so I shall use a Gregorian calendar until proved incorrect, i.e. dates will be presented as April 9, 623 of King's Calendar. Absolutely lastly, World of WarCraft started in 622 King's Calendar and Burning Crusade began in 624 King's Calendar.
PROLOGUE: AN INTRODUCTION AND AN INDUCTION (July 17, 620)
Gillad grimaced as a mixed group he was leading thundered through the forest. He looked at them sharply as another one of the foolish idiots broke a branch. Moving quickly, but silently, Gillad appeared before the man. "Do you have a death wish, or are you merely an idiot?" he hissed softly. "I suppose here actually it would be an undead wish, you brainless brantk. Now move quietly or I'll kill you myself."
The man had the audacity to look angry at Gillad. He drew himself up to full height, which was imposing and towering compared to the dwarf. His dark skin flushed angrily as he looked down at the offending dwarf. "Now listen here-" he began.
Just as he began Gillad drew out a small knife, reached up to the dark man's beard, grabbed it and pulled him down to where he laid the blade of the man's neck. "No you listen here you incompetent fool. I was paid to take you idiots into the forest, guard you as you did whatever you bloody well needed to, and to take you back out. We are barely twenty miles into the forest and you are trying my patience dearly. If you persist in making noise we won't make it to the target, much less get out alive. So shut up, be quiet, or I'll kill you and save everyone else. Is that clear?"
The man grunted a yes and Gillad let him go. The man was tall, over six feet, and extremely fit. He had a well kept beard that framed a dark, handsome face. Over his should was slung a large two handed sword, which, judging by the way he moved, he knew how to use it. If he could put half as much attention to where he stepped as he did now as when he fought, the man could move silently as a cat. Or near enough.
Just as Gillad was turning around, a Night Elf female hustled over to him. "What is going on?" she whispered.
"Just explaining the need for silence, again. But now I think he has the subject understood; nothing to concern yourself with, m'Lady." He used that honorific without sarcasm. As much as he thought the group was a batch of ill trained morons, he respected the Lady. Maybe it was because she was a Night Elf, and like most dwarf males, Gillad had served in the Third War, where he had seen firsthand their wood craftsmanship. Maybe it was the fact that she alone in the group knew how to move in the woods, and could perfectly silent. But whatever the reason was, Gillad respected her deeply, and that was the only thing that kept him from leading his charges right back out of these cursed woods.
The Duskwoods were not something that Gillad liked. Especially not when he was hired to take a band of ten into the Duskwoods, to a point inside, and then back out again. This complicated his life immensely, and Gillad hated complications. And just to add insult to injury, the contract specified that they be kept off the roads, and out of sight; their presence in the woods must go completely unnoticed.
This meant that he had to take the group straight through the forest, and the forest was changing. In the past few years, the Duskwoods had earned their name, as undead horrors and other deadly creatures had begun prowling through the forest.
Gillad was a stout dwarf. Of average height, with red hair and an uncommonly large beard, Gillad looked the part of every story's dwarf. His personality added to the effect, as he was gruff, foul tempered, and coarsely tongued. And just to top off the pile of clichés, alcohol appeared to have no effect on him. Despite this, he was an excellent woodsman, and his clients knew it. That was why he was hired, and he was not cheap.
The group he was escorting was comprised of the dark human male, the Night Elf Lady, three gnome males who had kept to themselves, a human male who wore the vestments of a priest, another human male in blue robes, a human female who moved almost as silently as Gillad, and quieter than the Lady, and finally two more large human males who also carried swords.
Gillad glanced up at the sky; it was approaching night, and nothing alive moved in the Duskwoods after dark. However, there were no convenient spots to camp at, so Gillad kept the group moving for another twenty minutes until he found a spot that suited him. It was a glade on top of a small rise, and that meant it offered a greater line of sight and it was marginally easier to defend than other spots.
He began to organize the campsite, and ran across two of the gnomes attempting to build a fire. Grabbing them by their collars he hauled both of them up into the air, one in each arm. "What part of no fires didn't you hear?" Gillad growled.
Both gnomes blinked in surprise, both at the interruption and the venom in Gillad's voice. "What order? We heard no order, didn't we Spriz?"
The other gnome nodded empathetically. "Most assuredly good sir, Griz heard no such thing."
Just as the two gnomes were finishing, the third gnome came around a tent and merrily dumped more wood onto the pile, and began to try to ignite the wood. Dropping the two in his hands, Gillad then dragged the third gnome into a line with the other two. "I suppose you also didn't hear the order about fires?"
"What order? Were we to start one earlier, for truly Triz did not hear that."
Sighing at their obvious ignorance, Gillad explained. "We can't have a fire if we want to be undetected. You can see smoke for miles, and we can't afford that, so no bloody fires. Is that understood?"
All three gnomes nodded as one. "Most assuredly." The middle one said, Griz. Or was that Triz? Or the other one? Grunting in acknowledgement and frustration at their names, Gillad moved on through the camp, making sure that no one else had managed to completely ignore his careful orders.
The rest of the party had no other mistakes, and in fact, Gillad was impressed at the three warriors. They had set up an effective rotation and clearly intended to keep watch all night, but that didn't mean that Gillad wouldn't sleep lightly. However, he had an advantage. He walked to the edge of the camp and uttered a quiet bird call.
Minutes later, a shaggy gray wolf padded up to Gillad. "Good boy, did you get some food in here?" The wolf looked at Gillad, who noted the blood around the wolf's mouth. "Good boy!" He said again as he tousled the wolf's fur.
The guard looked askance at the affair, but wisely kept his mouth shut. Gillad walked over to the man, and the wolf followed. "This here is Kr'anth. He'll keep you company for parts of the night, so warn you're buddies when they take watch. He can smell anything before you'll see it, so he's a big help around here, got it?" The man nodded and bent over to pet the wolf. For a moment Gillad tensed, Kr'anth didn't usually let strangers pet him, but he let the large dark man. Maybe there was more to him than stupidity.
That next morning, Gillad was up early, making sure that nothing had intruded in the night and all the provisions were still there. Kr'anth was gone, as he had expected, the wolf roamed all around them as they marched, Gillad would be more worried if he could see Kr'anth, because that usually meant a fight. As the rest of the camp roused, Gillad hushed them but hurried along their packing.
"We've got the better part of forty miles to travel before we get where we are going. And I want to make fifteen miles today. So let's hustle." A mild grumbling kicked up at this, but Gillad glared at everyone who did, and for the most part, that shut them up.
After hours of walking, Gillad called for a short lunch stop. The three huge males stripped off their packs and began handing out bread and cheese. Gillad reached into his own pack and popped a bit of dried meat into his mouth. He noticed the Lady walking over to him and quickly finished chewing.
She smiled at him as she approached. "May I ask a question, Mr. Guide?"
Gillad snorted. "That's just my working name; everyone here can call me Gillad. I don't keep it a secret."
"Good, Gillad, why must we keep moving so quick and be so quiet while we are moving." She smiled sweetly again. "It is no trouble to me, but some of our friends find it harder."
Gillad grunted in agreement and thought for a moment, then looked at her.
"You've got four types of forests," Gillad said. "One that looks mean and evil and with too many rumors flying about it, rumors that bad things happen and evil things lurk deep inside. The second is a place that looks evil and all different kinds of bad, but there are little rumors about it, really you don't hear much about that place, but you look at it and get the guess that you should stay away. The third is a forest where it looks like you'd want to take your family in for a picnic, only you hear all sorts of mean and nasty things about it, and the locals warn you away from it. The fourth looks like the third, and there aren't any rumors. Oh, maybe that there might be some fauns or other magical bits deep inside it, but nothing really cruel. Maybe even a giant man-eating wolf. Those rumors are fairly common." He looked at the Night Elf. "Now order those from easiest to get through to hardest."
The Lady tapped her lip in thought for a moment, and then looked down at the dwarf. "The last one I would guess would be the easiest." She continued tapping after he nodded that she was right. "Huh. The second one next, then the third. Am I right so far?" Gillad shrugged. "Well, all that leaves is the first. So four, two, three, one."
Gillad smiled and shook his head. "You were right about the easiest one. The last forest is almost always a cake walk. Sure, if you poke too far you might get poked back, but for the most part, they are safe. However, the next, in my experience, is the third. The villagers might find it spooky, but most real bad magic does evil things to the stuff around it." He shrugged. "I don't know why, but I'm glad for it. You can usually tell when something is wrong. Now don't get me wrong, you might run across a band of dryads or satyrs that take offense to you being there, but most of the time, the third type is traversable is you are smart. I'd say next is the first. You don't want to go there unless you have to; the rumors don't spring from nothing. But even then, you know what you are getting into, and you bring plenty of bang and boom. You are on your guard and you are ready to drop anything that has too many teeth for your comfort. They are deadly and mean, but if you plan well enough, they are survivable, even if just barely. But the real killers are the second. Think about it, it looks like the first kind, and again, in my experience evil looking forests mean evil. I've never seen dead trees and creepy branches where a nice band of fauns lived, have you?" Gillad shook his head. "But think, for rumors to spread, doesn't that mean that something got out alive? Dead men tell no tales, after all. But this forest doesn't have those, so what does that mean?" He grimaced. "Too often it means that something nasty lives there, and doesn't let much escape. So, don't mind me if you don't want to, but let me ask you something first: how many rumors about these Duskwoods have you heard? Cause I haven't heard too many."
She looked a little paler than she had a moment before. "Well, I suppose we will have to abide by your professional advice, won't we?"
Gillad grunted. "I suppose. And it's time we moved. Let's go boys and girls."
After another set of long hours marching, Gillad again called a halt. This time, the camp came up more smoothly and Gillad allowed himself to relax against a tree in the middle of the camp. The wind stirred around him as he sedately chewed on dried bear. "Yes, missus? Got any questions or comments?" He said as rested with his eyes closed.
"Not too many, just a wonder how you figured I was here."
He frowned. Her accent was oddly familiar to his, but she was no dwarf, and wasn't raised in Grim Batol. "I heard the wind, saw it on my cloak, but the tents just a few feet away didn't move. You were silent enough, but just too quick to move."
She chuckled. "You notice much, my friend. How did you come to be so experienced?"
He opened one eye and looked at her. The human female dressed in dark. What he had figured. "That is a long tale girly, and we don't have the time for it right now." He almost grinned at the small flash of annoyance when he called her 'girly'. "And don't get all huffy at me. I'm older than anyone here, save for maybe the Night Elf Lady. I'm over two hundred, should you believe it."
She smiled at him. "I should gramps, I should, and I guess that does let you call me girl or girly. But let me buy you a drink after this, and we'll talk."
"On one condition, you tell me about your past too. Where you grew up, and what you did." She smiled when he asked about where she had grown up, but returned quickly to normal non-expression.
"Deal gramps." She stuck out her hand, and Gillad shook it. "I guess we got to get out of here alive though?"
"I suppose so, at that." He closed his eyes and rested.
Two days later Gillad came across the spot that they were to camp for two more days. He didn't fully understand why, mostly because his employers didn't feel the need to disclose everything they did with him. This was fine with Gillad, as long as nothing they did brought undue attention to the camp or to the party, and if it did, he had given them fair warning that he would leave and let them fend for themselves. So, with that warning restated he set up making a more permanent camp, one which could last for three nights and two days. He got the three men to make spikes out of trees and branches and plant them in the ground, despite what most people thought, the barricade around a camp does not have to resemble a fort or even just a wooden fence. A piece of wood, half a foot to a foot, sharpened on one end and planted in the ground close together works just as well. Anything that walks would either have to pick their way through extremely carefully, and as close as Gillad had the stakes planted, anything human sized or larger would find this impossible, or risk having a foot or so of wood go through whatever they are walking on. This would deter anything that walked, as not even a bear with mangle its feet so bad it can't walk. So Gillad had a wide strip, five feet wide and with stakes placed less than four inches apart surrounding all but a walk way a few feet wide. Yet again, the camp was on a rise, and with all of this preparation complete, Gillad felt moderately safe. Not enough to keep him from sleeping lightly of course.
That night, Kr'anth returned. To Gillad's trained eye, he seemed more wary than normal, and Gillad made a mental note to be sure to stay wary. Just because the woods had been quiet so far didn't mean they would stay that way.
A loud explosion cut through the still air, and Gillad looked to the east from where the sound had come from; the same way that the Lady, the three gnomes, two of the men, the priest and the female had gone. He cursed angrily to himself as he stood up. The man in the blue robes, leisurely stood up and reached into his pockets.
"Why are you just standing around, fool? Whatever that was, it will bring all sorts of unwanted attention here, and we need to get out of here now!" Gillad bellowed.
The other swordsman who was left behind had begun gathering up food and water and stuffing it into bags. Gillad approved of this, and began to gather up his own things while also stuffing everything of value into bags. He knew that there wouldn't be time to break down more than three or so tents, and so he didn't try. Instead he made sure that he and the swordsman were very carefully breaking down and storing as many tents as they could, but Gillad stressed that a few bed rolls and tents where better than a lot of partial rolls and partial tents.
The blue robed man was now doing something where he was, but as far as Gillad could tell nothing of value. Grumbling to himself, Gillad was just about complete with the third tent, when he heard the sounds of running coming from the east. Telling the swordsman to keep working, Gillad grabbed his gun and moved over to the side of the camp.
As the noises were getting closer, he heard the blue robed man speak. It was nothing he understood, but a moment later he heard a terrible noise and turned around to see the robed man looking both sick and tired, but a blue shape in front of him. The man smiled weakly at Gillad and said, "My pet. He will help us." Gillad nodded and turned around. Evil magic, but no worse than what was coming at them.
The Lady, the three gnomes, and the dark skinned man burst through the woods towards the camp. Not forgetting the spikes, they dodged inside.
"We must leave! Now!" Said the Lady, out of breath.
"Everyone grab a pack and let's move." He put food and water on everyone, and the two swordsmen and him each got a tent and rolls. Moving at a jog through the woods north again, Gillad noticed the gnomes were having a hard time keeping up. "We have to keep moving, if you are tired and fall back, you die. Now move."
As the party was moving off quickly, Gillad sidled up next to the Lady. "So what happened and where are the other three?"
Glancing down at the dwarf, the Night Elf said, "We were gathering samples and taking notes, when a massive undead came out of the forest towards us. It looked like an abomination used in the last war. Glaenas, the priest, started attacking it, as did the two blades. The girl had vanished off and the three gnomes and I gathered up everything while our three defenders distracted the attacker. One of the blades was killed, but Glaenas managed to use it as an opening to blast it with some kind of magic. It killed it, but more undead came from the forest. Glaenas told us to run, and we did. I saw the girl then, dancing through the undead, killing them as she went, but then we were running, and a moment later I heard that explosion. So I don't know what became her or Glaenas." She hung her head as she finished.
"Unfortunate. However, that does confirm my fears. We need to move fast today, I want us out by tomorrow night if that is possible. I know that you are an elf and have some kind of magic; do you have any that will help us stay moving? Something to ward off the exhaustion?"
"I do. But it will not last forever. I won't be able to sustain it all day and night and tomorrow."
"We can't move at night. It will be more dangerous than camping. We can't see in the dark, and who knows what hides around the next tree? We sleep tonight."
After more tiring hours of march, just after it was truly night, Gillad called for a halt. "We stop here. I want three men on shifts at all times, so that means three shifts, and we watch all night." He showed them how to guess the time based on the moon and told them to wake him when the moon came to a certain spot in the night sky. It turned out that this was unneeded, as before it was his shift, a wave of undead attacked the camp.
Gillad and the rest of the camp defended it well, and partway through the fight the human female and Kr'anth showed up. Gillad did not wonder at their fortune, instead, he was thankful for it. As shot after shot echoed from his gun and undead after undead dropped, Gillad began to grow worried. The blue demon that the blue robed man had conjured had been destroyed not long ago, and they were all growing tired. Eventually, and before any of the living could be killed, the undead stopped coming and all appeared to be truly dead.
"We have to move, despite what I said. We can't risk staying here any longer." Gillad stated flatly. The rest of the group nodded wearily.
As they broke out of the forest and crossed the Nazferiti river into Elwynn forest, Gillad breathed a sigh of relief. He looked back at the three ragged gnomes, the two females, one human and one a Night Elf, and the lone dark skinned swordsman. More got out than he expected. After tumbling back onto the real roads again and taking them to Goldshire, Gillad and the rest of the party spent the night at the inn. Retrieving their horses that next morning, they set out for Stormwind.
None of the group seemed willing to talk about what had happened, and Gillad did not feel as though he should broach the subject. So he and everyone else merely pondered about the horrors lurking the in the Duskwoods.
After arriving in Stormwind, he and the Lady parted with the rest of the group and returned to the dwarven district, where he kept a small business entitled 'A Wilderness Guide and Escort'. They went inside and Gillad tiredly flopped into a comfortable chair he kept.
He eyed the Lady and motioned her to another overstuffed chair. "Sit and relax. No charge."
She smiled slightly. "Gillad, you are very proficient at your job. I did not figure that any of us would escape, so you have my thanks." He merely smiled and nodded. "However, I also have a proposition for you. I am part of an… organization that has an interest in a person of your skill. You could go far, and the pay is very good." She help up a hand as Gillad opened his mouth to speak. "And the vast majority of jobs are much, much safer than this last one."
Gillad looked warily at the Lady. "What does this organization do, exactly?"
"We are called the Order of Assassins, but do not fret over the name. We have long since become much more, it is merely tradition and the fact that we are known as that, that prevents us from changing it. We call ourselves merely the Order. We have long been moving behind the scenes in Azeroth. We could use you, because we also have a great spy network, and the fact that you can take our men off road and sneak them to a target through mountains or a forest is invaluable."
He thought for a moment. Gillad had taken many jobs over the years, and even now he knew that only a title kept him from being called a mercenary. "I want what I was paid for this job every two weeks, and the ability to refuse a job I do not want."
The Lady nodded. "It is agreed then. Come Gillad, close this shop we are moving." She stood up.
Gillad also stood up and glanced around the room. Kr'anth padded silently into the room and looked at Gillad. "Where will I meet you? I need a week to close down here."
"The Gilded Rose. If you are not there, I will assume you do not accept the offer."
Gillad nursed a drink in the corner of the inn. A Night Elf lady slid into the booth on the other side. "Ready?" She asked.
"Yes." Gillad said, and they got up, gathered their things, paid the tab and walked out.